This application claims priority of United Kingdom patent application number 0003849.7, filed Feb. 19, 2000.
Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a safety gate, especially a child safety gate, for forming a barrier across an opening inside a house such as a doorway, stairwell, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Child safety gates are used for preventing babies and toddlers from reaching parts of the house which are dangerous to the child (e.g. stairs) or to which the child might cause harm. Known safety gates produced to date comprise rigid non-collapsable, generally rectangular frames of various types which usually include a series of barrier rods, typically of about 0.5 inch/1.2 cm diameter. These frames have screw fixings at the four comers for enabling the frame to be fixed in position within or across the housing opening, either temporarily or semi-permanently. Since these gates employ a rigid frame, they are cumbersome and not easily stored.
Some gates have been proposed which will fold but these have been awkward and bulky once collapsed.
One such known folding gate has a square frame whose four members are joined by L-shaped corner brackets having wall-bracing members attached thereto. A sheet of material is provided inside the frame attached to each frame member by a plurality of loops. This gate is extremely complex and time-consuming to erect and to collapse.
The present invention aims to mitigate at least some of the problems associated with the known gates, and/or to provide a collapsable gate which is easily assembled and/or erected to a barrier position, and easily collapsed without fuss.
According to the present invention, there is provided a collapsable safety gate for selectively forming a barrier across an opening inside a house, comprising: a storage housing capable of being fixed in position across the house opening, either permanently or temporarily; and a folding curtain which can be stored in the storage housing when folded and which can be withdrawn therefrom along guide tracks to an extended position for forming a barrier across the opening.
Preferably, the safety gate is a child safety gate. The house opening can, for example, be a doorway or stairwell.
The folding curtain has the advantages of being compact when folded and being generally light whilst remaining effective as a barrier, and is very simply unfolded and folded to form and collapse the barrier, respectively. The version with the temporarily fixable storage housing has the advantage that it can easily be inserted into, fixed to and removed from the house opening, and, being light and compact, it is easily portable by parents with a child visiting friends and relatives.
When the curtain is fully extended, it usually occupies only a proportion of the vertical dimension of the house opening. The curtain merely needs to form an operative barrier part-way across the opening in order to be able to hinder the passage of, for example, small children.
Preferably, the curtain is flexible, for example formed from a flexible textile material (for lightness). The curtain is preferably provided with a plurality of generally parallel folds (e.g. permanently pleated folds). These can be arranged to predispose the curtain to fold together in a concertina fashion, for neatness and compactness. Preferably, one end portion (a proximal end portion) of the curtain is attached directly or indirectly (e.g. via a fixed rod) to the storage housing.
Preferably, the gate includes a means for holding a distal portion of the extended curtain in position relative to the storage housing. Advantageously, the curtain-holding means comprises an elongate member, usually rigid and, for example, comprising a rigid housing or plate, to which the distal portion, preferably a distal end portion, of the curtain is directly or indirectly attached, the elongate member being capable of being fixed, permanently or temporarily, in position across the house opening, for example generally parallel to a proximal face or opening of the storage housing.
More preferably, the storage housing and/or (if present) said elongate member of the curtain-holding means comprise a means for exerting pressure against a boundary of the house opening, the pressure-exerting means being movable from (a) a retracted position proximal to or inside the storage housing and/or elongate member to (b) an extended position distal from the housing and/or member in which the pressure-exerting means can be biassed towards and/or locked against the house opening boundary. This provides a selectively removable fixing mechanism for e.g. a portable safety gate.
Still more preferably, the pressure-exerting means of the storage housing and/or the elongate member (if present) comprises an elongate tube fixed to or part of the storage housing and/or elongate member, and first and second elongate rods movably mounted inside the tube and projecting from first and second ends thereof, the first and second rods being capable of being biassed towards and/or locked against the house opening boundary. Preferably, the first and/or second rods bear a laterally enlarged pressure-exerting member (e.g. a pressure plate) at ends distal from the tube.
In an especially preferred embodiment, the safety gate comprises: first and second elongate guide tracks adapted to be located at or adjacent respective first and second portions of the curtain, preferably side portions thereof and means for coupling the first and second side portions of the curtain to the respective first and second guide tracks for movement therealong. In use of the gate, the guide tracks are themselves arranged to be located at or adjacent a boundary of the housing opening. This preferred embodiment has the advantage that, for example, the first and second side portions of the curtain can be held in place near the doorway/stairwell frame by the guide tracks, thereby inhibiting children from circumventing the erected barrier by squeezing between the side of the flexible curtain and the door frame, while still allowing the curtain to move between the folded and the extended positions.
The term xe2x80x9celongate guide trackxe2x80x9d is to be construed broadly as a member to which the respective curtain portion can be directly or indirectly attached or engaged and which is adapted to guide the movement of the respective curtain portion generally along the length thereof.
For a portable gate, the first and/or second guide tracks can be removably fitted into a retaining means, such as a moulded bracket, in the storage housing and/or (if present) in the elongate member of the curtain-holding means. These allow the guide tracks to be held in the assembled position.
Preferably, the first and/or second guide tracks have a longitudinal slot allowing access to a hollow interior of greater width than the slot, and the attachment means comprises a shaft or other projection extending from the curtain and capable of passing through and moving along the slot, the shaft or other projection having an enlarged head (e.g. a T-piece) distal from the curtain of greater width than the slot and capable of being retained within and movable along the hollow track interior. The enlarged head cannot exit the slot and thereby the curtain sides are held next to the guide tracks during expanding/collapsing of the curtain. In a portable version, where the guide tracks are removable relative to the curtain and/or the storage housing, the slotted guide tracks can have an open end through which the enlarged head can pass to be captured by the track
Preferably, the attachment means shaft extends from the first to the second guide track when the guide tracks are in the assembled position (e.g. extending across the width of the curtain and/or extending generally parallel to any curtain folds) and bears first and second enlarged heads at opposing ends for retention by the first and second guide tracks, respectively.
Preferably, the gate is such that when the first and/or second guide tracks are in the assembled position they are generally parallel to each other and generally transverse to the storage housing and/or (if present) the elongate member.
Preferably, the safety gate is provided with a plurality (e.g. 3, 4 or more) of spaced-apart means for attaching the first or second curtain portion to its respective guide track. In this way, the curtain portion is held (e.g. by a plurality of shafts spaced apart along the curtain) at a number of positions to the respective guide track, further reducing the likelihood of a child circumventing the erected barrier.
Where guide tracks are present, the elongate member of the curtain-holding means can comprise a rigid rod which extends from the first to the second guide track when the guide tracks are in the assembled position, wherein opposing ends of the rod can be supported in the curtain extended position by supporting portions of the respective guide tracks. More preferably, the guide tracks are slotted (as above) and the rod ends extend in assembled use through the respective slots and into the hollow track interior and can be supported in the curtain-extended position by means of a locking key (e.g. a paddle-shaped key), the key being attached to the track and movable from a position where it does not obstruct movement of the rod along the track to a position where it does obstruct such movement.